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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:34 pm
Time: 8:34 pm
Results for faith-based groups
3 results foundAuthor: Jenkins, Jack Title: Thou Shall Not Kill: Faith Groups and Gun-Violence Prevention Summary: Rev. Agabus Lartey, pastor of Family Life Fellowship Church in Boston, Massachusetts, left the lights on for his daughter Kristen before going to bed last August. But Kristen, a 22-year-old who had just graduated from college, never came home that night. Instead, she and three other young women were gunned down that evening while sitting in a car on a nearby street. Three of the four women died from their wounds, all victims of senseless—yet, for many Americans, frighteningly frequent—gun violence. “I went into her room, and she wasn’t there,” Lartey told The Boston Globe. “I had an inkling, I started connecting the dots, and at that moment my doorbell rang, and there was a cop, and I knew that she had passed. … My birthday is the day that my daughter died.” Stories such as Kristen’s are all too common in the United States, but they don’t have to be. Millions of Americans have been affected by gun violence in their communities, and millions more are calling for an end to the killing—and their voices are growing louder. In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, last December, an overwhelming majority of Americans called for common-sense gun regulations that could help prevent future killings: Polls show that 91 percent of Americans, including 85 percent of gun owners, support universal background checks for gun purchases. But despite such strong public support, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a series of sensible gun regulations last week—including universal background checks for gun purchases. The Senate’s refusal to act has triggered widespread outrage among gun-violence-prevention advocates. Yet now more than ever, advocates are determined to intensify their efforts to defeat the gun lobby and win common-sense regulations to help make America safer. Faith-based groups have long been key partners in these kinds of efforts, bringing a moral voice, firsthand experience, learned expertise, and strategic know-how to the cause. Together with citizen groups, law-enforcement officials, elected leaders, and survivors of shootings, they are decrying the cowardice of senators who voted down gun laws and calling for sensible regulations that will help curb the epidemic of gun violence that haunts neighborhoods across the country. Details: Washington, DC: Center for American Progress, 2013. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2013 at: http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/FaithGunViolence.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/FaithGunViolence.pdf Shelf Number: 129635 Keywords: Faith-Based GroupsGun ControlGun Violence (U.S.)Homicides |
Author: Johnson, Byron R. Title: Objective Hope: Assessing the Effectiveness of Faith-Based Organizations: A Review of the Literature Summary: Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have been part of public life for decades, but the dialogue has recently taken on a new and higher public profile. By some estimates, FBOs provide $20 billion of privately contributed funds to social service delivery for over 70 million Americans annually. While there is an impressive and mounting body of evidence that higher levels of religious practices or involvement (organic religion) are linked to reductions in various harmful outcomes, there is little published research evaluating the effectiveness of faith-based organizations (intentional religion). Faith-based organizations (fFBO) have been part of public life for decades, but the dialogue has recently taken on a new and higher public profile. By some estimates, FBOs provide $20 billion of privately contributed funds to social service delivery for over 70 million Americans annually. While there is an impressive and mounting body of evidence that higher levels of religious practices or involvement (organic religion) are linked to reductions in various harmful outcomes, there is little published research evaluating the effectiveness of faith-based organizations (intentional religion). bring some clarity to this area, we first review and assess in summary fashion, 669 studies of organic religion, and discuss how the conclusions from this body of research are relevant and directly related to the research on faith-based interventions. In sum, there are two broad conclusions from this review of research on organic religion: (1.) research on religious practices and health outcomes indicates that higher levels of religious involvement are associated with: reduced hypertension, longer survival, less depression, lower levels of drug and alcohol use and abuse, less promiscuous sexual behaviors, reduced likelihood of suicide, lower rates of delinquency among youth, and reduced criminal activity among adults. This review provides overwhelming evidence that higher levels of religious involvement and practices make for an important protective factor that buffers or insulates individuals from deleterious outcomes. (2.) research on religious practices and various measures of well-being reveal that higher levels of religious involvement are associated with increased levels of: well-being, hope, purpose, meaning in life, and educational attainment. This review of studies on organic religion documents that religious commitment or practices make for an important factor promoting an array of prosocial behaviors and thus enhancing various beneficial outcomes. This study also reviewed research on intentional religion and uncovered a total of 97 studies that examine the diverse interventions of religious groups, congregations, or faith-based organizations. Twenty-five of these 97 studies specifically examined some efficacy aspect of faith-based organizations, programs, or initiatives. The current study critically assesses these studies and documents that research on faith-based organizations: (1.) is much less common than research on organic religion. (2.) relies too heavily upon research utilizing qualitative approaches such as case studies and too little upon quantitative methodologies that emphasize rigorous and outcome-based research designs. (3.) often reflects a general naivete with regard to measuring the "faith" in faith-based. (4.) yields basic, preliminary, but almost uniformly positive evidence supporting the notion that faith-based organizations are more effective in providing various services. (5.) is long overdue and funding from both public and private sources should be allocated immediately for rigorous research and evaluations of faith-based organizations, interventions, and initiatives. Details: Waco, TX: Baylor University, Institute for Studies of Religion, 2008. 76p. (Originally published: 2002) Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 14, 2014 at: http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/24809.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/24809.pdf Shelf Number: 131916 Keywords: Faith-Based GroupsRehabilitationReligionReligion and Crime |
Author: President's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (U.S.) Title: Building Partnerships to Eradicate Modern-Day Slavery: Report of Recommendations to the President Summary: There are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in human history, with an estimated 21 million in bondage across the globe. Every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim of human trafficking. Trafficking in persons, or modern-day slavery, mars every corner of the globe and manifests itself in a debasement of our common humanity that is completely at odds with religious and ethical teachings alike. This heinous crime robs tens of millions of people of their basic freedom and dignity. Victims of modern-day slavery include U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, children and adults, who are trapped in forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation, with little hope of escape. Trafficking in persons is estimated to be one of the top-grossing criminal industries in the world, with traffickers profiting an estimated $32 billion every year. The extraordinary reach of this crime is shocking-with cases reported in virtually every country in the world, including in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia and U.S. territories and insular areas. This report is a call to action for our government to partner with all parts of the American citizenry, including philanthropic organizations, the business community, institutions of higher education, and the non-profit sector, both religious and secular, to eradicate modern-day slavery. Our country's leadership is urgently needed to fight this heinous crime. Details: Washington, DC: The Advisory Council, 2013. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 24, 2014 at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/advisory_council_humantrafficking_report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/advisory_council_humantrafficking_report.pdf Shelf Number: 133812 Keywords: Faith-Based GroupsForced LaborHuman Trafficking (U.S.)PartnershipsProstitutionSexual Exploitation |